Another Way
by Layla Karine
Summary: A what-if story. *Spoilers*—what If Oliver were really able to free Alicia? Here's an Alternate Universe AU where Ollie-boy dies. Let me know if I should attempt to continue to a three chapter short story. Chapter 2 up!
1. Another Way

**Spoilers: Read after you've played the game (or have beaten Shadar's Arc) please**

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A what if story, really. This is what I really wanted to happen in Ni No Kuni, because I'm a sucker for Allie/Alicia. Right after you beat Vileheart, you discover the "truth", so here's what I hoped would happen from that moment on.

Also, dialogue isn't most accurate.

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"Arrow of Light!" A blast of light shot from the end of Mornstar, hitting Vileheart right where his name should suggest. It was a blow to his heart.

The monster's eyes grew wide as he collapsed to the ground, dissolving into darkness and light.

A distinct sound of metal and glass hitting the ground rung out, making Oliver wince, before seeing the dark jewel was still in tact.

The eyes of both Esther and Swaine fell on him as he recovered his strength from battle. His face changed to a smile as he looked forward. There it was. The soulsnare. It was the prison that he would free Alicia from. Alright.

"C'mon, Ollie-boy! Go on! Go on!" Oliver turned to his fairy companion, Lord High Lord of the Fairies, Mr. Drippy. "Now you can set Alicia free!"

"Yes. Go on, Oliver. It's about time, don't you think?" Esther said from beside him.

Oliver nodded. He smiled broadly before getting a reassuring pat on the back from Swaine. He held his head high, ran forward, and reached for the soulsnare. The darkness felt cold in his hands, but the feeling only lasted a moment. Within seconds, a rushing sensation washed over him.

Purple and white light blinded the group, turning the air around them shining, and Oliver had no choice but to avert his eyes as warmth overtook him.

"..."

The coldness in his hands vanished for a moment, and he heard crackling. A soft murmur could be heard before him, but Oliver was still seeing only whiteness.

"Alicia! Yer free!" An excited Mr. Drippy exclaimed with joy.

Oliver still couldn't see. He was momentarily blinded. For a moment, he stood stunned, but then, then, he felt a hand on his forehead. He felt warmth, and a push. He was being laid down. He heard a voice telling him to relax, and another light filled his vision.

And then, he saw her. It was so similar. Her eyes, her face. There were subtle differences, though. But it was outweighed. Oliver lost himself in the moment. He got up and launched himself at who he saw was his mother. He hugged her around her middle, and heard another voice. It was his mother, but not.

"I- oh ... Who are you?"


	2. Freedom

Alicia had no idea what to do or what to say. Here there was a boy, a boy who looked so much like, like her Lucien, hugging her. It was... very peculiar to her.

In a voice that was almost akin to that of Allie on Earth, she asked him, "Who are you?" again.

Oliver practically broke down right there.

"Oh, oh", Alicia tried to sooth him. She felt a difference in the time since her being sealed, and turned to see Esther and Swaine, before turining and seeing the only familiar face of the bunch. "Drippy!" She exclaimed. She let Oliver cling to her, but turned her attention to the Lord High Lord of the Fairies.

Drippy acknowledged her and smiled. "Well, youer free now! Look at that!" He cried.

Alicia smiled broadly. "It appears I am." She then looked back at the crying boy holding on to her.

She gave a small, sad look torwards him.

"E-excuse me... but, do I know you?" She looked at his eyes. They were much like Lucien's. In color, in shape, in their depth. You could almost see the universe in them.

Esther stepped forward, giving a bow to who was her father's equal in terms of status. In terms of respect. "Ma'am, um... Alicia, this boy here is Oliver."

"Oliver." She repeated.

"Yes, Oliver. He's- he's been on a long quest to save you, and to save his own mother."

"I- I see. However, I am not his mother. How is the rescue of myself and the rescue of his mother connected?" She asked.

"Are you aware of the spell Gateway?"

The sage blinked. "Y-yes. It's a spell to cross worlds. Why?" She was sure she had seen the young girl before.

"Mr. Drippy believes that your soulmate is Oliver's mother."

Alicia felt a weight on her heart. Her soulmate... was this boy's mother. She was related in a way to Lucien? At least, they looked similar."

She ran her fingers through her light red-brown hair. How would she explain this to the boy? Oliver. How would she explain the process of soul severing. She looked around her again, this time, taking in the enviroment. The miasma marshes. Still dizzy from a decade of imprisonment inside a jewel, she tried to make sense of her surroundings.

Then, darkness fell over the sky. She panicked. What was happening? What in the Other World was going on?

Clouds and darkness swirled over the group. The land they stood on shook, and from nowhere, they saw the cloaked figure himself. Shadar.

Oliver heard his friends' gasps and whirrled around himself. His head against Alicia's heart, he heard her heart beating fast, thumping in fear and anxiety.

"Leave her, Shadar!" Swaine yelled to the sky. He pulled out his rogue revolver and aimed. Alicia couldn't move. It had been a decade of watching him from inside a purple fog of nightmares and despair. She was terrifyed. It was so unreal. Quickly, she raised her staff in panic and haphazardly drew the rune for Travel.

Shadar did nothing to stop them. He simply watched the redhead's fear radiate outwards from her heart. He knew exactly which element he would take from her when the time would come.

Alicia finished the rune, and with a last look up at the man she once knew, the group were transported out of the heart of the Miasma Marshes.

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Instead of only three chapters, I'm going to just keep writing as I see fit. There *will* be a conclusive end, but I'm probably only going to write through Shadar's Arc and a small bit after, as Alicia no longer is as prominent after that point. So more than three chapters, but shorter chapters than what I normally would write. Okay? :)


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